JIM McGUINNESS has revealed he is about to begin studying for his UEFA coaching badges as his influence behind the scenes at Celtic continues to grow.

The former manager of Donegal's GAA football squad was brought into the club in 2012 as Performance Consultant, working primarily on issues related to psychology with younger players, and stepped up his role earlier this season when being promoted to assist the members of the first-team.

McGuinness left Donegal in October following a defeat to Kerry in the All-Ireland final and is now working full-time with the SPFL Premiership champions with his revelation that he is about to begin UEFA's B licence course an interesting development.

"It has been a very busy schedule in terms of joining Celtic in a full-time capacity and working exclusively with the first team," said McGuinness.

"It was out of the frying pan and into the fire to an extent and I have really enjoyed working with Ronny and the coaches.

"That has given me the opportunity to start doing my coaching badges, which I hope will add a lot to the job I already do. Possibly, I could look at coaching the younger players in the academy at the same time as doing my badges.

"I start my UEFA B licence in two weeks' time.

"I do a lot of one-to-ones with players every single day and you do get into very in-depth conversations with them. There is lot of technical and tactical stuff as well as general conversation.

"I have been a coach and I would like to challenge myself in that area. I am going into it with an open mind and really enjoying it at the moment.

"The manager has said he is going to give me a couple of sessions in the season ahead. We will see where it takes us."

McGuinness has spoken previously about the relationship he has developed with Deila since the Norwegian took over from Neil Lennon as manager last summer.

"Since the new manager has come in, he wants me to work pretty much exclusively with the first-team," said the 42-year-old. "I work on the psychology things with players.

"We are very like-minded in our approach. Other than the fact I was very defensive and he is very offensive, the principles are exactly the same.

"He wants, high-octane football, energy, workrate, a lot of preparation and a lot of offensive energy going forward - taking the game to the opposition.

"If you take that philosophy forward, there are a lot of demands within it. The energy levels can sometimes become a problem, so the key thing for a manager is that the players are happy and have high energy levels.

"If you want to train at 100 per cent every day and work hard every day and want high energy on the pitch and in drills, you have to be demanding. That's why my role has become more important."